Okay, this is one of those self-deprecating blog entries.  This past Friday I was visiting Augustana College (www.augustana.edu) and throughout the day the clouds opened up, drenching the campus with rain, and the skies turned various shades of black.  The campus is bordered by railroad tracks, and when the "train whistles" started to blow mid afternoon, I was the only one not concerned.  You see where this is going...

Those "train whistles" were tornado sirens.  A tornado had just touched down in a neighboring county and the campus was placed on alert.  It was wonderful seeing their processes kick in and their media relations director talk me through their procedures.  He had confidence in their process and procedures for this situation because it had been reviewed and rehearsed.

That is exactly the can-do spirit you want your campus to have during an emergency.  Conduct tabletop or mock drill tests to maximize your response for varying degrees of alert and campus impact.  After all, you never know when you'll have to convince someone that the trains aren't your immediate or biggest issues.

--Teresa Valerio Parrot